Ti Amo, Bastardo
by Breanda Glertin
Summary: AU. It is the coldest winter in Spain this year when Antonio was walking on a some-what normal trip to the market when he finds a boy passed out in the snow. Once the little Italian is taken into his lonely household things change for the both of them.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Winter, Spain

"Ah, it looks like they weren't kidding about this winter being a bad one..." Antonio was looking out upon his dying garden from his frostbitten window. He knew he wasn't going to be able to protect his precious tomatoes this year. He let out a small sigh and stared out his frosty window for a few minutes before turning away from the depressing sight of his poor, dying tomatos.

It was supposed to be one of the coldest winters Spain has had in years. Antonio tried preparing for it but no matter what he did, his garden still ended up dying off in the spine-chilling wind. The Spaniard sat on his couch to gather up some warmth near the fire. Antonio had nothing better to do during the winter. He lived alone and the feeling of loneliness was never the greatest to him but he dealt with it.

Antonio walked into the kitchen to grab something to eat, when he opened up the refrigerator, he was surprised to see he was almost out of food. He opened up the cupboards in search of something to snack on; it was unsettling to find he was out of Pop-tarts.

"Maybe I should go out for a little while..." he muttered to himself.

He nodded in agreement to himself. Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good idea, he needed to stock up on food to prepare himself for the long winter ahead. Antonio gathered up his long, brown trench coat, blue scarf, white ear muffs and gloves, but as soon as he stepped out of his door a sudden rush of cold wind slapped against his body. "Ay carumba. It's cold!" But Antonio took it like a man and braced himself against the freezing air. The wind nipped at his ears and the tip of his nose, causing them to turn a bright pink color. He walked down the street a little and noticed his neighbor, Bella was looking out her window.

Her smile was bright when she saw Antonio. She waved to him happily. Antonio smiled and waved back, then kept walking towards the town. As he almost reached his destination, his face was red, nose was running, his ears were numb. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go out for the day. He pulled up his scarf over his mouth to protect his freezing lips.

"It's freezing..."

Antonio continued walking down the frosted path noticing some squirrels gathering acorns to bring to their families. Antonio smiled, "You and me both... except I don't have any friends left." He contined walking through the frozen park slowly, covering himself from the bitter cold.

He continued quickly to the market before it closed. Antonio walked in and was kindly greeted by warm air, as he walked in he grabbed a trolley and headed down the aisles looking for things to store in his house for the cold, bitter winter ahead.

"Do you need any damn help?" Antonio looked up from the Pop-tarts to see a man with abnormal, gravity defying greyish blonde hair. "Uhh, no." Antonio was already confused by the man; his hair was so... so... so gravity defying! The man's look was quite intimidating, "No, you definitely need help. What the hell do you want?" Antonio didn't know what to say. He didn't need any help! What the hell was this man talking about?

Antonio didn't want to be mean seeing the man probably wanted to just help a friend. He put a nice, small smile on his face, "Um ok, what kind of Pop-tarts do you reccommend?" The man just looked at him with a 'You're a dumbass' look. Then he made a smart comment back, "Which ones do you like? I'm not a miracle worker. I don't know what you like!" Antonio didn't know what to do, he just wanted to grab his favorite strawberry Pop-tarts but it seemed like this man wasn't going to leave him alone.

"S-Strawberry..." the Spaniard was reaching for his Pop-tarts and was about to run away and just leave his trolley behind but the worker grabbed his wrist before he could grab the delicious treat, "No." Antonio looked at him suprised, "W-What?" The grey haired man grabbed the purple box of Pop-tarts and handed it to Antonio, "I think you'll like grape better." Antonio laughed nervously. This man scared him and grape was his least favorite! "O-Ok, thank you very much, sir!"

The man nodded and turned around. Antonio didn't know if he heard right but he thought the man muttered, dumbass... before he walked away. Antonio sighed and strolled around to the produce section of the market. Of course he was going to buy some tomatoes! As he started scanning through the baskets of tomatoes to find the most ripe and reddest looking ones, he heard a slightly familiar voice appear, "Do you need any damn help again?"

Antonio jumped a little at the sound of the voice. Damn, he's back! He turned to the same man with the wild hair, "Umm, no thank you I'm just looking." He started laughing nervously again and averted his eyes back to the basket.

"You do need some help."

"Excuse me?" This man confused Antonio too much. He knows he didn't need any help. What does this man want?

"_I said..._"the man said with a louder tone, "Do you need any damn help?"

Antonio shook his head quickly, "N-No, I promise, I don't need any help!"

"Liar." replied the man bluntly.

Antonio whispered to himself and whined, "Would you please leave me alone?..." then he spoke up, "Why do you want to help me so badly?" The man looked around the area for a minute. It looked like he was trying to think of an answer, "My manager said I had to help out the damn customers or I lose my fuckin' job." What's up with the language on this guy? He can be a little friendlier, I know the weather isn't "at best" right now, but he can be nicer.

"There are others customers you know. I don't need help all the ti-" Antonio cut off noticing the man was staring at him with a death glare. Chills ran down Antonio's spine as he turned away, smiling nervously, and pointed to the tomato boxes with a shaking finger, "Which tomatoes look ripe and the most red to you?" The worker turned away to look at the basket.

Before Antonio knew it, he was leaving the market with his least favorite treat, tomatoes that were too squishy and a little brown, and other items that he didn't want. The worker followed him everywhere he went in the market. Antonio kept asking himself if the guy was stalking him but he didn't want to say anything. All he knew is that the less food he got, the faster he could get out of there.

As he started walking out the market with his bag, he decided to take the longer way back home. It may be freezing but, he lived alone so there was no point of going back so hastily.

He decided to walk down an empty street that nobody ever went down, the cold wind started to chill his whole body again. His breath becoming visible once again. He pulled his scarf over his chapped mouth and wrapped his arms around his trembling body. There was something that felt different down the frozen road like he wasn't alone. He didn't hear anybody or anything but the sound of his light footsteps crunching in the snow and the wind blowing against his numb ears. Antonio closed his eyes tightly every other second to attempt to warm them up. Then the sound of a light moan appeared from... somewhere around Antonio. He couldn't make out where it had came from, snapped his eyes open, and turned around quickly to see nobody was around.

"Maybe it's just my imagination..." The snow started to come down harder.

Antonio wrapped his coat tighter around him, stuffing his hands under his arms, and dug his face into his scarf as best as he could. He trailed down the road. He needed to get home before he turned into a Spanish popsicle. Then the sound of a loud groan echoed in the area. Antonio stopped in his tracks, gasping lightly. What is that noise? It sounds like a dying animal. It's hard to see anything in this thick snow. Then the sound of heavy but slow taking footsteps started filling Antonio's ears. He looked around to see if someone or something was following him, then something happend to catch his eyes. A black silhouette in the shape of a human started to appear from a distance in the snow. Antonio had to squint his eyes harder to see. The snow was really starting to come down even harder.

"H-Hola? Is someone over there?" Then Antonio gasped as he watched the silhouette drop. He dropped his bag of groceries and ran towards the dark figure still trying to keep warm, "Oi! Are you alright?" His eyes were starting to sting and tear up from the wind but when he reached up to the silhouetted figure, he was shocked. It was young boy who still looked like he was still in his early teens.

The boy had short sleeves on and a pair of worn-out shorts, the only warmth he seemed like he had was a ragged scarf wrapped around his neck. "Dios mio." Antonio kneeled down to feel the boy's pulse. He's still alive. Thank goodness. But his skin was ice cold, Antonio stared at the boy trying to process certain things in his mind. He couldn't help but notice how the boy's chocolate hair fell around his face neatly. Antonio shook his head quickly finally processing everything, "What am I doing? This boy is dying and I'm looking at his hair?" He told himself to focus.

No matter how cold it was and not really thinking, Antonio quickly threw off his jacket and wrapped it around the boy, "Here, I'll help you warm up." The boy was unconcious so the Spaniard knew he could not hear him. He then wrapped his scarf around the boy's neck and mouth. Antonio took the brown haired boy and put him on his back, "You'll be warmer when we get to my house..." Antonio could feel the boy's body trembling and his breathing was abnormal. How long has he been out in this weather for? Antonio's body heat was dropping rapidly without his jacket on.

"Alright, let's go." Antonio started to walk as fast as he possibly could to get home but he almost forgot one thing, "Gah! The groceries!" He ran over and tried to grab the bag without dropping the boy. He felt a cold hand grip his shoulder tighter. The boy was heavier than he looked and Antonio struggled trying to carry him and his bag of groceries he didn't want, but he knew he had to get the boy and himself out of the cold.

Antonio started walking down the street again and then something suprised him a little, "G-Grazie..." the voice trailed off. Antonio looked at the young boy. Was that Italian? Antonio knew what that meant, smiled, and spoke softly, "De nada." He didn't know if the young, possibly Italian, boy was talking to him or possibly dreaming but he was glad that the boy could respond. "Don't worry, we'll be at my house soon and you can warm up there and eat something. I hope you like grape Pop-tarts..." Antonio started heading in the direction to his house. This was first time he actually wanted to go home sooner than usual. He sped up a little and continued quickly until he made it home. Once there, he struggled with his keys until he got the door open. Antonio and the boy were met with soothing warm air, and as they entered the boy began to mumble something in Italian. The boy stopped mumbling and spoke more clearly, in English, Why... Why did you help me?..." The question took Antonio by suprise as he looked at the boy, who was still unconcious. He laid the boy on the couch carefully.

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Antonio scrambled around his house to find the warmest blankets and wrapped them around the young kid. He made sure to wrap one around himself as well. Antonio rushed over to his fireplace and started a fire. Then put a warm towel on the young, still possibly Italian's, forehead. The Spaniard looked at the boy for a second, watching his chest rise up and down a little more normally. Antonio smiled to himself knowing he just saved a life. He strolled into his kitchen to make a cup of hot chocolate. Unfortunately, it wasn't his favorite. It was some off name-brand that worker from the market 'recommended' to him. Antonio sneezed really loud echoing throughout his house, "Ugh, damn I got a cold." He grabbed a paper towel to wipe his still pink nose.

Once he had finished making his drink, he sat in a chair near the couch the new-comer was laying in. Antonio had absolutely no idea what to do now. Should he just wait for him to wake up and ask questions? Or should he wake him up on his own? What if this kid was some murderer? Antonio shook his pointless thoughts out of his mind and looked at the teenager's calm, sleeping face.

"There's no way this kid could be a murderer..." Antonio took a quick sip of his hot cocoa and was quite surprised on how good it tastes. He thought for a second, "What kind of hot cocoa did this man say it was?" Then the worker's voice popped in his head saying confidently, " It's Warme Chocolademelk, the finest in the world." Then Antonio shook his head again trying to forget about the stalker. At least he thought he was a stalker. Antonio took another sip of his warm drink and shrugged casually, "This stuff's not that great."

The Spaniard looked closer at the kid, his color was starting to return but his cheeks looked flushed. Antonio took a minute to look at the discolored cheeks then his index finger unwillingly moved towards the cheek until he pressed it against the softness. Antonio's mind cleared as he smiled brightly. Poke, poke, poke. He started poking the cheek repeatedly. Antonio started chuckling to himself, "Your cheeks are so soft." Then he tugged on it a little, "So soft..." The unconscious boy moved a little, groaning in his sleep. His face expression changed from a sleepy to an unhappy one. He pushed the Spaniard's hand away and flipped on his side facing away from Antonio. "Um, are you awake?" asked Antonio confused. When he heard no response, he figured the boy must still be sleeping.

An awkward silence filled the room when Antonio sat back down in his chair. The only noises were the sounds of fire crackling, wind blowing outside, and the boy's steady breathing. Antonio sighed and set his cup down after he finished the last sip. He was bored out of his mind right now so, he went back and forth from the living room to the kitchen multiple times glancing at the boy every once in a while. "What am I supposed to do?" He plopped back in his chair.

Antonio looked at the boy's back then at his hair. Something happened to catch his eye, "Huh?" He stood up walked over and stood next to the teenager's head, "A single curl?" There was one long curl protruding from the head of the boy. Antonio tilted his head. There are some weird hairstyles nowadays...

But being the curious Spaniard he is, he reached over and touched the curl. The boy flinched and his body tensed up for a second and released. Antonio was unaware of the funny sound the boy made, but wondered why the boy tensed up. Antonio kept messing with the curl and, the boy started to squirm and whispered, "S-Stop..." Unfortunately, Antonio did not hear him. Antonio smiled, "This is a cute hairdo." And without thinking, Antonio pulled the curl.

"CHIGIIIIII!" yelled the boy, who snapped his eyes open and punched Antonio straight in the stomach.

Antonio stumbled back and clutched his stomach. "What the hell, bastard? Don't touch me there!" Antonio took a deep breath, finally regaining his composure and stood up straight, "What?" The boy looked really upset and started shaking his head yelling, "I said don't touch me there, you bastard!" Antonio couldn't process everything that just happened. The boy looked around the room with his fist clenched in the air, "Where the hell am I?"

Antonio tilted his head and smiled, "You're in my house." The teenager threw a pillow smacking Antonio square in the face, "And who the hell are you?" The Spaniard picked the pillow off the ground, his nose actually hurting a little. This boy has some arm power on him. "Actually I have been wondering the same thing. Who are you?" The raging boy finally calmed down a little but he had a scowl on his face, "I asked you first, who are you?" Antonio sat in his chair and smiled brightly at the boy, "My name is Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. Now-"

"That name is too long. How am I supposed to be able to remember that, bastard?"

Antonio smiled a little with a puzzled look, "My name's not that long."

"Yeah, it is. I don't even remember what it was. Antoine Julio Ricardo?"

What is up with this kid? "It's Antonio. Don't worry about the rest of it. What's your name?"

"Why do I have to tell you my name?" This kid was acting a complete brat but Antonio just kept smiling, "Because I would like to address properly." The boy crossed his arms and glanced at the man in front of him, "Lovino. Lovino Vargas."

Antonio's eyes brightened in awe, "That's such a wonderful name!" Lovino looked at the man like he was stupid, "It's nothing special, bastard."

"Well, I like it."

"Shut up." replied Lovino coldly.

Antonio sat down near Lovino's feet and looked straight at the boy, "Are you Italian?" Lovino seemed a little surprised by the question, "How did you know?" Antonio chuckled, "Because when I was carrying you here, you started speaking a little bit of Italian, so I was just curious." Lovino looked away, "Yeah, I'm Italian."

"Ah! What part of Italy are you from? Where is your family? Why were you out in the freezing cold dressed like that?" Lovino stuck his hands out, waving them rapidly, "Stop asking so many questions! What makes you think I have to answer all your damn questions anyway!"

The Spaniard stood up and patted the Italian's head, "I knew you weren't a bad kid."

"Kid? What the hell makes you think I'm a kid?" Lovino shoved Antonio's hand off his head. "Huh? What are you talking about?" Antonio looked at him puzzled. Lovino clenched his fist and scowled, "I'm twenty-three, you idiot!" Antonio became dumbfounded, "T-Twenty-three?" Lovino looked awfully pissed, "Yeah! I'm not a kid, I am a grown-man! That's it I'm leaving, you already piss me off." Lovino got up quickly throwing the blankets and towels off of him. "Gah!" Lovino stumbled to the ground. Antonio was surprised and quickly responded, "Lovino. Are you okay?" He kneeled next to the Italian man putting his firm hand on his shoulder. Lovino looked at him and a very light shade of pink appeared on his cheeks when he realized how close the Spaniard's face was. He clenched his teeth and pushed Antonio's hand off his shoulder, "Let me go. I'm fine."

Lovino stood up and started walking a little but Antonio noticed the Italian was limping, "Did you sprain your ankle?" Lovino looked back at the man halfway then looked straight, "N-No. I said I'm fine." Antonio walked up to him and gave his ankle a light and gentle squeeze. Lovino flinched in pain, "Ouch, bastard! That hurt!"

Antonio walked Lovino back to the couch, "Here let me get you some bandages for your foot." Lovino blushed from embarrassment, "Fine." Antonio walked around his house and finally found some bandages, he returned back to Lovino who was still sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and scowl still on his face. He was silent except Antonio could've sworn he heard him growling as he kept his eyes fixed on the Spaniard. He picked up Lovino's foot and the Italian once again flinched, "Be careful!" Antonio gave him an apologetic look, "Lo siento, Lovino." Lovino was a little surprised, not by the Spanish, he wasn't really expecting a nice response like that but he kept quiet.

When he finished wrapping his foot, Antonio grabbed a pillow and gently put Lovino's foot on it. He handed him a cup of hot cocoa that he made for the young Italian. "So, Lovino, what part of Italy are you from?"

"I don't have to answer that." Lovino glared at Antonio.

"Why's that?" Antonio's eyebrows furrowed in wonder.

"I don't have to answer that either." Lovino took a sip of the hot cocoa, "It's none of your business anyway."

"Aww, why you gotta be like that Lovi?"

"Lovi? What kind of name is that?" Lovino snapped at him. "I am not taking any nicknames!"

Antonio tilted his head, "What's wrong with nicknames? They are fun to have."

"I find nicknames to be stupid, I have always hated them." Lovino growled.

Antonio was confused. How can someone hate nicknames? Well, I guess it depends on the nickname but seriously Lovi is not _that_ bad, "Well, okay, so I have one more question."

Lovino just looked around not really caring.

Antonio asked a little more seriously, "Why... were you out in the snow, almost dead?"

Lovino looked at him at first a little caught off guard but then his eyes softened into a blank stare, "It's none of your business."

Antonio rubbed the back of his neck. This guy wasn't going to talk that easily, "How about this, if I tell you about myself, will you tell me a little more about you?"

Lovino didn't really want to respond to that question, "Sure."

"Okay~!" Antonio smiled brightened once again and he cleared his throat. Lovino responded by rolling his eyes.

"My name is Antonio. You can call me Toni if you would like, I don't mind nicknames." Lovino glared at him. Antonio continued, "And I am 25 years old, I am from Madrid, Spain, and have lived in this country all my life. I had two best friends with whom I hung out with for a long time, their names were Gilbert and Francis. I-"

"This is boring." Lovino yawned. "What? Why do you say that?" Antonio became a little sad. Lovino shrugged clutching on to a pillow.

Antonio sighed. This guy was acting a little cold, "Well can you at least tell me little more about yourself then?"

"No."

"Why not? You said you would!" Lovino dug half his face in the pillow, "I lied."

"Well, that's mean." Antonio whined and leaned back into the chair. "It's not my fault, bastard." That sentence made Antonio then realize something, "Um, why do you keep calling me 'bastard'?"

"You said I could give you a nickname, right?" Antonio nodded, "Yes?" Lovino leaned against the couch, "That's my new nickname for you."

"Okay?" Antonio just went with it thinking that opposing it wasn't going to help. After a few moments Antonio looked over at Lovino to find that he was studying him intently. "Something wrong?"

"Why did you help me?" Antonio found that to be a very random and weird question, "Why wouldn't I? I wouldn't just leave somebody freezing to death on the street."

Lovino immediately changed the subject, "Do you have anything to eat?"

"Do you like tomatoes?" Lovino wrinkled his brow in confusion, "Uh, sure?"

Antonio stood up, "Alright I'll be right back." He hurried into the kitchen and from a distance tossed Lovino a tomato. He almost missed it but managed to catch it and clutched it against his chest, "The hell? A raw tomato? You're not even going to cook it!"

"No. You get more nutrients if you don't cook it, they don't taste bad at all by themselves. I enjoy them very much."

Lovino looked from Antonio to the tomato and scanned it carefully, "Whatever I'm starving." He took a big bite into the red fruit. Lovino's face went from blank to amazed and devoured it within a few seconds.

"Do you want some more?" Lovino nodded quickly, his eyes looked happy but the rest of his face still had a scowl on it. Antonio chuckled lightly and went to grab a few more. He handed them to Lovino, whom snatched it out his hand.

Lovino managed to finish them within a couple of minutes. The, now satisfied, Italian leaned back into the chair patting his stomach, "Ah, Grazie."

"De nada." Lovino's eyes flashed quizzically at Antonio, who simply winked.

Lovino's face started to turn a light shade of pink again, "Hey..." Antonio looked at him, "Hm?"

"You can call me Lovi... if you want." murmured Lovino, who blushed a little in embarrassment.

Antonio became delighted, "Gracias!" He pulled Lovino into a deep, friendly hug. Lovino quickly shoved him off, "D-Don't hug me, bastard!"

Antonio laughed while Lovino just looked at him with a light pink still on his face. After that, Lovino finally warmed up a little more up to Antonio. The Spaniard was happy that the man he found, lying almost lifeless, on the ground was just fine and quite healthy. He didn't even catch a cold.

The night started to set throughout the town and Antonio made a spare bed for Lovino on the floor of his room. Lovino rebelled against being in the same room as 'the bastard' but finally gave up when Antonio mentioned that his room was the warmest place in the house. They both went to lie down in their respectable areas. It took a while for Antonio to fall asleep; there were a couple reasons to that. One, he couldn't sleep with Lovino's loud snores coming from the bed beside his. Two, he had random thoughts keep popping in his mind. And three, he kept wondering why Lovino wouldn't tell him anything. Regardless, he closed his eyes and contentedly drifted off to sleep.

_To Be Continued..._

_A/N: Yes, Tomatoes are considered fruits._


	3. Chapter 3

Antonio was frolicking through a lucious field of perfectly ripe tomatoes, when he saw him there, that grocery store clerk. Antonio stopped and the clerk laughed and mockingling said, "These aren't the right tomatoes." He picked up the tomatoes and, one by one, he threw them and hit Antonio in the face. "Ouch!" Antonio started to turn around and run away.

Then, he woke up, and standing over him was Lovino, "Get up, bastard. I'm hungry! Make me breakfast!" Lovino was looking at Antonio, whining and flicking his nose repeatedly. "Wake up!"

Antonio responded to the pissed Italian by grumbling incoherant words. He gave a light sigh and sat up, "Si, si. I'm up." Antonio yawned and stretched his arms out. Lovino scowled and a light pink blush spread across his face. "Put on a damn shirt!" Lovino turned around and threw a pillow at him. "At least be decent when you have a guest over!" Antonio looked down at his bare chest and giggled.

"Right. Lo siento~." Antonio got out of bed and walked over to his dresser and rustled through the drawers for shirt to put on. He grabbed his favorite T-shirt and pulled it on. "All better, lets go get breakfast."

"Finally I'm sta- Ahhh!" Lovino fell over again. Antonio couldn't help chuckle, "Forgot about your ankle, didn't you?"

"Shut up!" Lovino scrambled to stand up. The Spaniard kneeled down and wrapped his arm around Lovino's waist.

Lovino yelped slightly, "Let go." The pink appeared on the Italian's cheeks once again. "I don't need any help, you bastard!"

Antonio backed away holding his hands up like the police just caught him, "Alright, sorry. I'll go ahead to the kitchen. You need any help just let me know." Lovino stood up using the bed for some support. Antonio hurried out the room to make some breakfast.

As he started making breakfast he could hear Lovino walking into the kitchen groaning and whining about his ankle. Every time Antonio went to go help him, he responded by 'Leave me alone.' or 'I don't need any help, you damn bastard!' or he would push him away. Antonio exhaled softly while he was making some churros. Why does this guy not want anybody to help him? "Was it pride? Was it because I was a stranger? Did he not like me?" Antonio kept mumbling questions to himself until Lovino hobbled out into the kitchen.

"What's for breakfast?" Lovino took a seat in the chair by the dining room table and examined Antonio's house more thoroughly.

Antonio, not surprised by the question at all, laughed and grabbed the sugar off the counter. "I'm making churros!"

Lovino scoffed at Antonio's answer and began to speak bitterly, "That is a dessert." Antonio just smiled. "Mhmm. I don't have much food. There was a really mean store clerk that wouldn't let me pick out my own food, so I had to manage with what I had. If you don't want churros I have some grape Pop-tarts the clerk made me buy… I don't like grape so you can have as many as you'd like."

Lovino hid a smile. "You were pushed around by a _grocery store _clerk."

"Well yeah, he was very mean and demanding." Antonio pouted and put the finishing touches on the churros. "So, do you want some?"

Lovino examined the plate of hot, fresh churros and nodded. "Sure."

Antonio smiled and walked over to his cupboards to get another plate for Lovino. He set some churros on his plate and set it down in front of Lovino. "Here you go. Nice and hot. The best way to eat them."

Lovino looked down at the plate before him and grabbed one of the churros, he studied it for a moment before taking a bite. Antonio had already eaten his first one and was working on his second. "These actually aren't as bad as I thought they would be. You did a good job, bastard."

Antonio smiled, seeing it as a compliment "Gracias! My madre taught me how to make them when I was little. Mine still don't compare to hers though. She always made them so perfectly." Antonio drifted off into deep thought and Lovino decided not to ask about his mother, so he kept quiet and took another bite of his churro.

Once both the boys finished with their churros, Antonio put the dirty dishes in the sink. Antonio's face lit up when he heard the phone ring from the living room. He turned around and smiled at Lovino. "I'll be back in a minute!~"Antonio ran out of the room and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?~" Antonio smiled brightly and continued his conversation for a few minutes. "I'll be right over. I have someone I want you to meet too." Antonio hung up and ran back into the kitchen joyfully. "Hey Lovi, I'm going to lend you some clothes, we are going over to Bella's house!"

Lovino looked at Antonio for a moment and stood up. "Who the hell is Bella, and what clothes do you want me to wear?"

Antonio ran toward his room and yelled, "Bella is my neighbor, her brother is here and she wants me to meet him. And you can wear whatever you find that fits!" Antonio came back out of the room with his shirt half buttoned, exposing his chest. Lovino blushed and looked away "R-Right. I'll find something"

Antonio finished buttoning his shirt and smiled. "Bueno! She will be so happy to meet you!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Lovino limped into Antonio's room. He rummaged through the clothes accidently running into a couple pairs of Antonio's boxers. The Italian quickly pushed them out the way and finally found an acyually well-fitting perfect outfit.

"Hey Lovi! Are you ready?" Antonio threw on his brown jacket and other necessities he needed for the cold. He heard Lovi in his room complaining about his foot. He figured he was putting on a pair of pants. "I'm coming." Lovino zipped up his pants as he hobbled into the living room. He wore Antonio's black pants, black long sleeved shirt and a dark red tie.

"Do you want me to carry you, Lovi?" Lovino shook his head, "No. I can manage on my own." Antonio shrugged and turned to face the door, "Alright then let's go."

They quickly hurried over to the next door neighbor's house. The blonde Belgian opened her door gesturing them to hurry up. Anotnio sped up while Lovino faltered behind. They both managed to get in the house before freezing to death.

"Welcome Antonio!" Bella said in a sing song voice.

Antonio nodded and brightened his smile, "Hola Bella, how are you?"

Bella grabbed some blankets she had waiting on the couch, "I'm doing just fine, how about you?"

She gave one to Antonio, "I'm doing fine as well." He peered over at Lovino awkwardly standing next to him. Bella was about hand one to the Italian but Antonio quickly wrapped Lovino in his. Lovino was bemused.

Bella cocked her head to the side, "Do you not want one Antonio?" Antonio shook his head and put his hand on Lovino's shoulder, "I feel he needs it more than I do." Lovino kept silent trying look away from Antonio's gaze.

"And who is this?"

Antonio nudged him with his elbow. Lovino looked down a little embarrassed, "My name is Lovino."

"My, what a cute little thing! Where did you come from?" Bella's eyes brightened in awe.

The words she chose made Lovino sound like defenseless puppy, "Italy."

"Awww, that's even cuter." She squealed and petted his head, "What part of Italy?" Lovino blushed having the beautiful woman's face so close to his. He averted his gaze from her and spoke a little coldly, "None of your business."

"Lovino!"

Lovino didn't look at Antonio has he shouted, "Be nice to her!" Lovino fell silent then limped away to the couch and plopped in it, "I'm hungry."

"You just ate!" Antonio complained at the constantly hungry Italian. Bella beamed, "That's fine, I've made plenty of Belgian chocolate if you would like some." Lovino perked up at the word 'chocolate' and turned to bella in amazement, "You have chocolate?" Bella's smile was so big, it's almost like the Belgian never has frowned before, "Yes, we do. Would you li-" She cut off noticing Lovino was already heading towards the kitchen hopping on one foot.

Antonio sighed, "Please excuse him, Bella. I have known him for a day and I feel like I have to keep an eye on him constantly."

She giggled, "It's fine. I don't mind it at all. He's really adorable. How old is he? Fifteen?"

"Twenty-three."

Bella became astonished, "Twenty-three? He has the face of young boy!"

"Yeah, I know I was shocked as well."

Bella and Antonio walked into the kitchen to find Lovino had already began eating the chocolates. Antonio kept apologizing to Bella for the different things Lovino had done. It truly felt like to the Spaniard that he was taking care of a kid.

"Oh, that's right! I want you to meet someone, Antonio. I'll be right back." Bella bounced out the room.

Antonio sat next to Lovi who gave him a mean look. The Spaniard crossed his arms, "Please be a little nicer."

"You can't tell me what to do. I barely know you."

Antonio exhaled slowly and closed his eyes. He opened them back up to see Lovino quickly looking away after a second of eye contact between the two. Antonio smirked, "You have chocolate on your face." Lovi stared icily at him before speaking, "I don't care."

Bella walked in holding the hand of someone who looked strangely familiar. No. It can't be.

"Hey Antonio!~ This is my brother Daan! He works at the grocery store down the street! He is going to live with me until he has enough money to move out."

Daan smirked at Antonio, "Enjoying those Pop-tarts?"

Bella looked between Antonio and Daan with a confused look then she smiled,"So you two have met? Did he give you a hard time?" She glared at her brother and his expression fell a little.

"No. Of course not. I was the helpful worker I always am!"

Antonio was shocked to see he was lying to his own sister, but he didn't want to start anything, so he kept quiet.

Everything was going great for the next couple of minutes, Daan was being lectured by Bella on his work skills, Lovino was enjoying chocolates, and Antonio was walking around enjoying the atmosphere. Until Lovino had to break it...

"Oi! Bastard!" Antonio looked up and heard Lovino shout his 'name' from the kitchen and everybody looked at him, and Daan, who was done with the lecturing smirked at Antonio. "Bastard… I like that name. It suits you."

He ignored Daan and continued to walk into the kitchen to see what Lovino wanted. "There you are. My ankle hurts, I want to go home." Lovino was sitting on the floor and Antonio saw he was in some pain. But it didn't look too bad. Antonio stood silently, trying to process everything. "Bastard!" Lovino was glaring at him and Daan was laughing in the living room, Bella slapped him and Antonio laughed to himself then focused back onto Lovino.

"Lovi!~ Did you say _home?~ _I thought you weren't going to live with me…" Antonio smiled at Lovino, who was trying to cover up the blush spreading across his face. "Sh-shut up! You aren't as terrible as I thought, and you feed me, so I might as well stay…"

Antonio took it as a compliment and realized it might be good to keep him around, it won't be as lonely in his house anymore. Antonio blushed when he saw how cute Lovino looked when he saw him sitting there holding his ankle. Lovino puffed his cheeks and scowled at the gawking Spaniard. "Well?"

Antonio snapped out of his daze and answered, "I'll let you stay." Lovino looked up and him confused. "If..." Antonio began to speak again, Lovino looked away and groaned "If?" Antonio gave a stiff nod, "If you let me call you Lovi!"

"Shut up! And I thought you already did!"

"In front of other people." Antonio finished, shutting Lovino up for a second.

Lovino blushed but complained, "Hell no. That is _way_ too embarrassing." Antonio just smirked, "Well I guess you might want to go house hunting then!~"

Lovi stood up, with some struggle, and buried his face in his hands, "Fine… you can call me… Lovi... in front of other people." He exhaled heavily, "Can we go now?" Antonio smiled and help Lovi walk out, luckily he didn't resist so it made it easy. Bella and Daan stopped talking and Bella looked at them with a disappointed look."Leaving already? I was hoping-" She was cut off by Daan laughing "I didn't realize that we let _fags _into our house Bell, seriously I can feel the gay radiating from the Spanish idiot over there."

Lovino pushed Antonio away, "We aren't gay, asshole! He was helping because, if you didn't realize, my ankle hurts like hell!" Antonio looked at Lovino with an astonished look, Lovino sure was defensive about this.

Daan just gave a small smirk. "Right… well you can leave now, I don't feel good having you here." Lovi gave an ice cold glare at Daan and smirked, "Heh. I wouldn't think you were so tough either. I saw your little pet rabbit come out of your room."

Daan looked around and Bella laughed. "You left his cage open again!" Daan looked worried and ran to his room but turned around before he ran off.

"Bunnies, I mean, rabbits are manly pets!" cried Daan before he disappeared down the hallway.

Bella kept laughing at him before turning back to Lovino and Antonio, "I am sorry about him, I hope your ankle gets better sweetie!" Lovino looked at her and thanked her before grabbing Antonio's arm again. Bella gave Antonio a basket full of tomatoes and thanked him for coming over.

"We'll come over again. Don't worry!"

She smiled and opened the door and waved as the two men left. When she was closing the door they heard her yelling something in Dutch at her brother, Antonio laughed and Lovino huffed. "I'm not gay…"

Antonio wanted to say something but kept quiet when he noticed Lovino was drifted off in thought. When they made it to the house Antonio decided to ask Lovino a question, "Do you have any family?"

The question made Lovino flinch, stiff up and he desperately tried to change the subject. He coughed awkwardly, "Do you have anything to eat?"Antonio was getting tired of him dodging all his questions so he sighed, "Lovi…I can't have a stranger in my house, I need to know about you. Please tell me."

Lovino pouted and limped over the couch. "Alright, I'll tell you, but you can't laugh or judge me. I'm going to tell you about my life and I swear if you laugh or smile I will force you to eat all the grape Pop-tarts you have in your cabinet!"

"Antonio gave him a small smile and took a seat next to Italian who was adjusting himself. "I can't believe I'm going to tell you all this…"

* * *

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
